Year: 2023
Total Time: 24:33
Label: Self-Financed

From the ashes of Black/Deathsters DEPRESSIVE REALITY rose OBLIVIUM REGNUM (translated as “Lost Kingdom”) in 2017 and released their first EP “Zradce-Traitor” in 2023. The titles and lyrics of the songs are in Czech language so there was also the relative difficulty of understanding them but, as far as I managed to understand, they focus on a part of Czech history and more specifically on the Přemyslid Dynasty, a Bohemian House that ruled from the 8th to the 13th century with a significant presence in the Kingdoms of Austria and Poland among others and with important ties to the House of Luxembourg and the House of Habsburg. A very interesting concept, indeed.

Enough with the interesting historical facts. Let’s look at the music facts. The music of OBLIVIUM REGNUM is primarily classic Heavy Metal interspersed with many melodic Death Metal elements, mainly in the vocals with atmospheric moments and quite a few true Doom Metal touches, not something we haven’t heard before, nor something sophisticated in terms of technique. There is the addition of female vocals as well as the presence of strings to heighten the drama, as well as the necessary recitations.

The production/mix is the “Achilles’ heel” of the overall effort. While the mix is relatively clean and warm, it is at the same time very unpolished and premade, bringing in mind some demo productions 20 years ago, not to mention more (demos of Greek bands had a better sound back then). For the most part, the feeling of nostalgia is beautiful and captivating, but we are in 2023 and in the overabundance of consecutive releases, there must be some element that arouses the interest of the listener. I hope our Czech friends will take a closer look at the production, mixing and performance of the very interesting lyrics in their next effort.

Rating: 5/10
Editor: Dimos Karadimos
Related Link: OBLIVIUM REGNUM – Facebook Page